Price drop after final payment

[swfcowl]

Booked on Summit in AQ. Had held the reservation for 24 hrs while looking for flights. Bombarded with emails and sales calls from Celebrity to confirm reservation. Naively I was Persuaded it was a great price and booked it. Less than 2 weeks later price dropped by:rolleyes::rolleyes: 20%. Called Celebrity and response was basically tough luck, you are paid in full. Policy doesn't allow us to do anything. Lesson learned? Look at state room availability before submitting to sales pressure! Not good way to handle a loyal customer (Elite). Time to review another reservation made on Equinox before final payment. Note price guarantee is very limited to within 48 hrs of final payment and difference is then given in OBC.

[WestCoastFlyer]

See this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2391339

 

It talks about price drops. In your case it will likely depend on if final payment was made because it was at or past the deadline or if you just decided to pay all at once and it was before final payment was due. Both scenarios are addressed in the thread referenced above.

Edited August 18, 2016 by WestCoastFlyer

[swfcowl]

Thanks. I was basically posting for fellow cruisers info. I understand the policies of Celebrity and was more commenting on their sales process when you hold a reservation on line for 24 hrs. Expect a hard sell for that 24 hrs and after. Captains Club were sympathetic but unable to help due to company policy. Lesson is to check how many state rooms are still available before accepting it's a great deal and won't be out there long. They were correct it wasn't .........but a much better deal was!

[Hlitner]

Trying to snag a great last minute deal (inside the final payment period) is a real crap shoot. We have often gotten some amazing deals, but this happens because we are very flexible and often willing to change dates, itineraries, and cruise lines. One particular year we were convinced we could get a great last minute deal on a X 14 night Caribbean cruise right after Thanksgiving and we waited. There was still significant unsold inventory. But guess what....the price actually increased after final payment. So we simply booked another Caribbean cruise (on HAL) for the same dates at about half the cost of X. But if you simply must have a specific cruise at a specific date....you sometimes just have to pay a little more to be sure.

 

Hank

[queenie57]

Might be worth a call to X to see if you can at least get a better room given what you paid. We just gave in yesterday and paid a little more than we thought we would for a last-minute cruise (after final payment date), and now I'm watching to see if the price drops on a higher category so that I can call to possibly get that. Can't hurt to try...

[ShakeDaddy]

Trying to snag a great last minute deal (inside the final payment period) is a real crap shoot. We have often gotten some amazing deals, but this happens because we are very flexible and often willing to change dates, itineraries, and cruise lines. One particular year we were convinced we could get a great last minute deal on a X 14 night Caribbean cruise right after Thanksgiving and we waited. There was still significant unsold inventory. But guess what....the price actually increased after final payment. So we simply booked another Caribbean cruise (on HAL) for the same dates at about half the cost of X. But if you simply must have a specific cruise at a specific date....you sometimes just have to pay a little more to be sure.

 

Hank

 

Agree with The Man,,,,,

 

Like H says,

 

"Don't fall in love with the Dancer". Hahahhaa....

[Flamencacha]

I am relatively new to cruising, and I already know better.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saab4444]

All cruisers in America should be happy with the flexibility you have. In most European countries we stick with a price even if booked one year in advance, no chance for price adjustments and always a minimum of 10% cancelation fee. I am getting more and more unhappy with Celebrity and Royal as all my cruises as Elite and Diamond Plus have been reduced significantly sooner or later after booking and the answer is always that nothing can be done about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Hlitner]

All cruisers in America should be happy with the flexibility you have. In most European countries we stick with a price even if booked one year in advance, no chance for price adjustments and always a minimum of 10% cancelation fee. I am getting more and more unhappy with Celebrity and Royal as all my cruises as Elite and Diamond Plus have been reduced significantly sooner or later after booking and the answer is always that nothing can be done about it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I guess there are many issues at work with European bookings. But cruise lines must work with the myriad of European laws and regulations, many of which are supposed to protect the consumer. But with some of these protections and regulations....comes less flexibility (on the part of cruise lines). Some (not all) US based cruise lines do allow Europeans to book through US cruise agencies. Where this is possible, one might be able to take advantage of some of our booking rules. In other cases, there are workarounds. We have an Australian friend who cruises with a line (HAL) that requires he book his cruises in Australia...at much higher prices. So, for many years, he has booked his cruises using a Canadian address (which belongs to a cruising friend) in order to get North American rates/benefits. Where there is a will.....there is often a way :).

 

Hank

[Mynki]

Seriously peeople need to treat each cruise on it's own merits. Celebrity UK have had offers that the US travel agents could not get near to price wise on some occasions. The largest US travel agent even questioned if one quote was genuine last year.

 

However, you can cancel and rebook to get a better deal in the UK on some occasions and not lose as much as 10%. I have noticed that the difference in prices has lessened considerably in recent times though.

 

Funny someone should mention HAL. We booked a HAL cruise through a US travel agent no problem years ago. But when trying to get a quote for a new cruise with that line we were told they wouldn't accept it initially as we were UK residents before stating actually it's ok, if you have used us to book a HAL cruise previously. It appears new customers can't do this anymore though.

 

I do know booking with Carnival is not an issue though, and they're part of the same group, so that makes no sense to me!

 

Then there's P&O (hell may freeze over before we ever book with them) but I have noticed that their prices in the US tend to be identical to those in the UK regardless where as other lines can differ.

[ptrpanpens]

Some UK agencies have MUCH lower prices for Oceania than the cheapest prices here in the US. I know this as I have friends who book through a UK agent and have gotten prices way lower than any of the agencies here. So low that I did not believe them until I checked for myself. However the deposit is nonrefundable so you have to take that into consideration.

[sasset]

Trying to snag a great last minute deal (inside the final payment period) is a real crap shoot. We have often gotten some amazing deals, but this happens because we are very flexible and often willing to change dates, itineraries, and cruise lines. One particular year we were convinced we could get a great last minute deal on a X 14 night Caribbean cruise right after Thanksgiving and we waited. There was still significant unsold inventory. But guess what....the price actually increased after final payment. So we simply booked another Caribbean cruise (on HAL) for the same dates at about half the cost of X. But if you simply must have a specific cruise at a specific date....you sometimes just have to pay a little more to be sure.

 

Hank

 

Yeah, don't understand some of Celebrity's pricing. We are on Summit New England cruise leaving in just over two weeks, lots of cabins including FV corners still available, but no price drop.

[Hlitner]

Yeah, don't understand some of Celebrity's pricing. We are on Summit New England cruise leaving in just over two weeks, lots of cabins including FV corners still available, but no price drop.

 

Perhaps Celebrity's CEO is making a statement. She has previously said there will not be last minute price drops. On the other hand, there are plenty of ex cruise line executives who pushed policies leading to empty berths.

 

Hank

[Mr. Click]

We had a big big drop on our upcoming Western Med cruise about 3 weeks after final payment recently. First email to our big online TA got the usual "sorry but" reply, second email pointed out how many cruises we have booked with them in the past and agreed that we are aware of Celebrity's policy but others on our roll call had gotten upgrades to better cabins. Two days later we and our friends were moved from a 1A to A1. Yep two category upgrade skipping right over CC. So it pays to ask, nicely but firmly.

[Mynki]

Some UK agencies have MUCH lower prices for Oceania than the cheapest prices here in the US. I know this as I have friends who book through a UK agent and have gotten prices way lower than any of the agencies here. So low that I did not believe them until I checked for myself. However the deposit is nonrefundable so you have to take that into consideration.

 

We're looking to sail with Oceania soon. They look great. This is what we're finding :-

 

Oceania Riviera sailing 21st November this year, A4 concierge balcony room.

 

Major US travel agent :-

 

£4039 with following perks.

 

$$$ Book now and receive FREE unlimited Internet access plus choose one of the following offers:

 

1. A US$1,800 per cabin onboard credit, or

2. A FREE House Select Beverage Package for two, which includes select alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages onboard, or

3. Up to 9 FREE shore excursions per person, for the first and second passengers in a cabin.

 

 

UK travel agent :-

 

£2529 with following perks.

 

For a limited time, enhance your cruise experience with OLife Select* when you book a Veranda Stateroom and above. Enjoy $500 FREE Shipboard Credit per guest, FREE Unlimited Internet plus choose one of these bonus amenities:

- 5 FREE Shore Excursions

- FREE Beverage Package

 

Booking in the UK is indeed a hell of a lot better deal in this instance.